When Everything Falls Apart
by a.lakewood
Summary: Junior year just started and nothing was going how it was supposed to. But change might not be a bad thing.
1. Chapter 1

Title: When Everything Falls Apart [1/?]  
Author: alakewood  
Warnings: General spoilers for Season One. AU.  
Rating: PG  
Word Count: 500+  
Summary: Junior year just started and nothing was going how it was supposed to. But change might not be a bad thing.  
Disclaimer: As always, I own nothing.

**oxoxo**

The first day of junior year didn't quite begin how Tim Riggins had pictured it. Of course, nothing in the past year had gone according to plan, so why should this day be any different?

It was strange to not have Jason beside him. Strange to have Lyla take one glance at him and rush off in the opposite direction. Strange to see Tyra roll her eyes at him and look away instead of giving him that coy half-smile he was used to seeing on her face.

Nothing was how it was supposed to be.

The only thing going right, it seemed, was practice and the team and that was enough. It would _have_ to be enough.

Smash and Saracen were standing beside Matt's locker and he nodded a 'hello' in their direction as he headed towards them. A group of girls blocked the hallway, but parted like the Red Sea before Moses as they recognized him.

"Hi, Tim."

"Hey, Tim."

"Riggins. Hey."

Some stared, eyed him like he was the most glorious thing they'd seen; others were more ambitious, offering favors or just themselves. His rally girl was among the group. "Tim!" she called, just as he made his way past the throng of girls. "Do you think you can get me a copy of your schedule, or a list or something?"

"Uh, yeah. Sure thing…" He trailed off, unsure of her name.

"Amber."

"Sure thing, Amber." He started backing away, holding her gaze – she was pretty cute. He backed right into another student.

"_Excuse me_," she said, taking a step in reverse.

"Sorry. I didn't see you there."

"Obviously."

"Sorry."

"You already said that." She sighed, shoving her overgrown bangs away from her face. "Can you tell me where the guidance office is?"

He gave her a once-over, taking in the baggy sweatpants and an A&M sweatshirt. "Uh, yeah. It's down the hall, on the right. There's a, uh," he made a vague gesture with his hands, "sign, above the door."

"Thanks."

"Again, I'm sorry."

She just waved a hand dismissively as she turned around and started in the direction he'd pointed her.

Tim shared a glance with Smash and Saracen. Eyebrows raised, Smash nodded in the direction of the girl. "Uh, hey!" A light jog had him at her side in only a few moments. "You're new, right?"

An eyebrow raised, she cast him a sidelong glance. "Have you seen me around here before?"

"No?"

"Well, there you go."

He stopped, grabbing her arm. "Hey. Did I do something to offend you?"

She fixed her sleeve, biting at her lip as she looked away from him. "Look, I'm gonna be late meeting the counselor…"

"What are you doing Friday night?"

Another pointed look. "I don't know you."

"Tim Riggins."

"That's nice. I'm gonna be late." She turned to leave.

Not used to being rejected, he continued his pursuit. "What's your name?"

She paused. "Dylan."

Tim rolled his eyes. "Seriously."

"Seriously. Dylan."

"I'll see you around?"

Another dismissive wave, then she disappeared into the crowd of students in the hallway. Tim stared after her and smiled to himself.

Maybe change wasn't so bad.


	2. Chapter 2

Title: When Everything Falls Apart [2/?]  
Author: alakewood  
Warnings: General spoilers for season one. AU.  
Rating: PG  
Word Count: 900+  
Summary: Dylan has a meeting with the guidance counselor. Then she visits the school nurse, admitting the reason for her transfer.  
Disclaimer: As always, I own nothing.

**oxoxo**

The door to the guidance office was ajar and Dylan knocked on it lightly as she pushed it open. "Excuse me," she said. "Hi."

He looked up from the mess of papers on his desk, expression thoroughly bemused, and smiled at her widely – with equally wide, rather, _maniacally_ wide eyes. "Hi." He sounded on edge.

"I'm Dylan Evans. I just transferred..."

"Oh. Yeah, they told me...I'm not actually the guidance counselor – I'm just kind of filling in while she's on maternity leave, so... Well, I'm new at all this and I wasn't sure how to, um, get the paperwork done and everything and..." He paused to breathe. "Look, you only need a few classes to graduate, so I'm just going to pair you up with someone that's taking those same classes."

Dylan remained just inside the doorway. She was pretty certain that wasn't standard procedure, but the guy looked really harried, so she wasn't going to say anything. She gestured towards one of the chairs in front of the desk. "May I?"

"Oh. Yeah. Sure."

She dropped her bag on the floor beside her as she sat. "So...what's your name?" She reached for the name plaque on the desk. "'Mrs. Tami Taylor,'" she read. "Interesting."

He laughed, high-pitched and awkward. "Glenn. _Mr. Reed_, actually." He shuffled through papers on the top half of the stack directly in front of himself. "I've, uh, got your transcripts here. You need four classes to graduate; however, we also require that you participate in an extracurricular activity. I see here that you were a co-captain of your cheerleading squad in Dallas."

"Can't I just join the yearbook committee or something?" she immediately offered.

Glenn's gaze caught hers. "I think this will be a much better fit for you."

"I don't think so. Please," she begged, "there's gotta be something else."

"Look..." he glanced at her transcripts, obviously already having forgotten her name, "Dylan. One of our captains just quit the team, so you won't even have to work for the spot. You took your squad to the state championships where you brought home second place. You're perfect for this."

"I'm..." She stopped herself, not wanting to have to tell anyone that didn't have to know. "I'm done at the semester when I graduate."

"Of course. Just do what you can to help get them prepared for competitions and such. I see that you've also participated in a couple of camps with the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders-"

"I was fourteen," she argued. "That was a long time ago."

"Still. Just make it work, okay?" He handed her a schedule as a knock sounded on the door. "There he is now. Mr. Clarke, please come in."

Landry entered the office, hanging back by the door. "Mr. Reed?"

"Landry, this is Dylan. Dylan, Landry. Landry will be your guide around the school, okay? You've got the same class schedule, so there shouldn't be much of a problem there. Any questions, feel free to come see me."

Dylan stood, grabbing her bag. She scoffed. "Like you could actually _help_."

Landry followed her into the hall. "Well, we've got physics first and that's-"

"Can you take me to the nurse?"

"Are you sick?" he asked, concerned.

"Not yet," she sighed, suddenly looking a lot more vulnerable than she had inside the guidance office. "Do we have time before class starts?"

"A few minutes. It's right around the corner." He waited outside the door as Dylan went in.

"Hello," the petite, 30-something nurse said, smiling at Dylan. "Can I help you? Are you feeling okay?"

"Look," Dylan began, "I'm not sure how to...how I'm supposed to go about this, but..." She sighed and rubbed at her face with her hands.

"I just need someone on my side, here."

The nurse just stared at her with curiosity, but didn't say anything.

"Mr. Reed is forcing me to join the cheerleading squad," she Dylan explained, "and, normally, I wouldn't have a problem with that. It's just that...I'm pregnant."

The nurse's eyes widened. "You can't-"

"I'm only a month along, which is why my dad transferred me here so suddenly. I can graduate at semester, but he didn't want anybody back home in Dallas to find out, so...But my doctor said I should try to keep doing normal things, but I don't think she meant cheerleading. But Mr. Reed said I can't graduate without participating in an extracurricular and he wouldn't give me any other options. I'm fine with helping out the squad, but I was just wondering if you could...I don't know. Write me an excuse or something, so I could just help coach or something? That way I'm still participating, just not..._participating_."

"Did you tell Mr. Reed about your...situation?"

Dylan shook her head. "I don't think it would do much good. Besides, he's overwhelmed enough as it is. And I don't want anyone to know that doesn't have to. I'll be gone in five months."

"You're going to have to tell your coach. Then I can talk to her about it, okay, hon?"

Dylan nodded. "Okay. Thank you." She started for the door.

"Excuse me, but I didn't get your name."

"Sorry. Dylan. Dylan Evans."

Landry was standing right outside the door when Dylan came back out. "You okay?"

Dylan stared at his face, looking for a sign that he'd been eavesdropping but saw nothing. "Yeah. Thanks for waiting." She hefted her bag on both her shoulders. "So...physics?"

Landry gestured down the hallway with a hand. "This way, ma'am."


	3. Chapter 3

Title: When Everything Falls Apart [3/?]  
Author: alakewood  
Warnings: General spoilers for Season 1. AU.  
Rating: PG-13  
Word Count: 2400+  
Summary: Dylan survives her first week at Dillon High and goes to a party with Landry and Matt. But who does she leave with?  
Disclaimer: As always, I own nothing.

**oxoxo**

Dylan was hours shy of surviving her first week at Dillon High. Early on that first Monday, she realized that small-town high school politics were a lot more intense than those at her school back in Dallas. It probably had a lot more to do with the fact that all these kids had grown up together and didn't really care much for outsiders or interlopers – particularly the cheerleaders. All of whom regarded her with disdain and a small amount of envy at their coach's praise for her accomplishments.

And the fact that Tim Riggins, easily one of, if not the most, popular guy at school (with whom she shared one class – P.E.) had apparently made her his conquest didn't help her friend-making situation. It didn't matter what class she had or which alternative routes she took, Tim had a way of 'bumping' into her all throughout the week.

But it was Friday and it was time for lunch and there were just over three hours until the week was over. She filled her tray and grabbed a milk from the end of the line and headed for the table that she'd been sharing with Landry. However, halfway there, there was Tim.

"We've gotta quit running into each other like this," Tim said. "People could talk."

"Maybe if you quit stalking me..." Dylan replied, just loud enough for the girls at the nearest table to hear. She could hear their snickering as she walked away. If there was one thing she'd learned about Tim Riggins that week, it was that he wasn't used to getting shot-down and that there probably wasn't a single girl in all of Dillon High that would do it. And there were probably a few teachers included in that generalization.

Tim sidled over to where Smash and Saracen were seated with most of the football team's first string, to lick his wounds or to reconfigure his game-plan, Dylan wasn't sure. As she continued on her way towards Landry, a girl he'd pointed out as Lyla Garrity (as in _the_ Lyla Garrity, ex-co-captain of the Panthers cheerleaders) fixed her with a half-pitying half-dirty look as she stood from her table and strode off in the opposite direction Tim had gone in. Landry had filled her in on the best of Dillon High's gossip so she was well aware of what had gone down between Tim and Lyla. In both the proverbial and literal senses.

Dylan set her tray on the table beside Landry's and sat down beside her only friend. "Three more hours," she sing-songed. "I can't wait. Then two whole drama-free days."

Landry laughed. "Wouldn't be high school if there wasn't any drama."

"Touché."

"But it wasn't really _that_ bad, was it? Your week, I mean."

Dylan shrugged, picking at her barbequed chicken nuggets. "If we don't count cheerleading practice or those awkward moments between classes stuck in the hallways with people who seem intent on treating my like a leper...it's been bearable." She grinned at Landry.

"You're...something," he said, shaking his head. His eyes were fixed one something across the cafeteria.

Dylan followed his gaze to where it landed on one Tyra Collette. Her name had been mentioned briefly in the Dillon High Gossip 101 highlights reel in connection with Tim Riggins. _What a tangled web_, Dylan thought. So Landry liked Tyra who had been Tim's girlfriends before he broke up with her and moved on to Lyla who broke things off with Tim who was now in pursuit of Dylan. She found herself in a very interesting position. One that she didn't really want to be in. She elbowed Landry lightly, eyebrows raised in question.

"What?" Landry asked.

Dylan pushed her tray back and leaned her arm on the table as she tilted her head closer to Landry conspiratorially. "Tyra?"

He slouched down in his chair and stared at the food on his tray. "What about her?"

"You like her, huh?"

Landry shoved his fork into his mashed potatoes like a flag-less flagpole. "That obvious?"

"A little."

Landry suddenly sat up straight. "Incoming." He nodded towards Dylan's left.

She cast a glance over her shoulder and rolled her eyes. "What do you want now?" she asked completely annoyed.

Tim perched on the edge of the table beside Dylan. "I think we might've gotten off the wrong foot."

"Which time? All of them?"

"Yeah. See, there's this party tonight down at Dry Creek and I was wondering if-"

"Landry already asked me to go with him."

"I did?" Landry almost squeaked. At the expression on Dylan's face, he cleared his throat. "I-I did."

Tim looked at Landry, eyebrows arched. "You did, huh?"

"He did. But thanks anyway." She started to turn back towards Landry.

"You say that like you don't mean it," Tim observed.

Dylan sighed heavily. She reached for her tray and pushed her chair back from the table. Standing, she said, "Maybe because I don't."

Landry followed suit, biting his lip to keep from laughing at the expression on Tim's face, and led the way towards the trashcans at the other side of the cafeteria. He dumped the uneaten food off his tray into the garbage and set the tray on top of the stack. "You really don't like Tim Riggins, do you?"

"I think he's way too friggin' cocky."

"That's just Tim. He's never gonna change."

She eyed Tim as she and Landry left the cafeteria. He was watching her intently. "They never do." She turned back to Landry. "So, Dry Creek?"

**oxo**

Dylan leaned back against her seat, eyes closed, half-listening to the CD Landry had made of some of Crucifictorious' better songs and to the conversation going on between him and Matt Saracen, who was leaning up into the space between the front seats. He was having relationship problems with his girlfriend Julie (who, she had learned, was the daughter of the football coach – Coach Taylor – and the guidance counselor that was on maternity leave).

Her window was rolled all the way down, the scent of gravel dust carried on the surprisingly cool breeze making her nose itch slightly. Landry had picked her up shortly before ten because, according to him: a, nobody arrived to these types of gatherings on time, and b, it would be a heck of a lot easier to blend in without drawing a whole lot of attention to themselves. She'd snuck out of her bedroom window as soon as Landry had texted her that he was on his way.

The gravel road they were on was completely dark except for the headlights of Landry's car and completely empty. It wasn't long before they crested yet another small hill and a sprawling, shallow gully opened before them. There were cars parked everywhere and close to a quarter of the students from school standing around a huge bonfire. Landry turned off the headlights and coasted into a space between a falling-apart eighty-something Dodge truck and a falling-apart eighty-something Ford truck. They all climbed out of the car and started down the slight slope towards their classmates.

"Hey," Dylan said to Landry, bumping his arm with her shoulder. "There's Tyra. You should go say 'hi.'"

Landry scoffed. "Are the two of you conspiring against me or something?"

Dylan looked around Landry at Matt who was grinning. "No. But maybe we'll start if you don't go talk to her."

"Yeah," Matt agreed. "You haven't talked to her all summer. I'll keep Dylan company."

"But-" Landry began, but was interrupted.

"Mr. Reed said that you were my guide around school. You don't have to babysit me out here." Dylan grinned. "We'll be around."

"So..." Matt started, leading Dylan towards where the keg was set up. "You're from Dallas?"

"Yep."

"How'd you end up in Dillon?"

"It's a long story. Cliff Notes version, my dad's originally from here, a whole bunch of stuff happened, we ended up here."

"That's not vague," he said with a smirk.

Dylan laughed. "Maybe just a _little_."

"What about your mom? Any brothers or sisters?"

"Nope, just me. And my mom...she died a little over a year ago. Guess it's part of the reason we moved."

"I'm-I'm sorry."

She shrugged a shoulder, her arm brushing against Matt's. "Thanks. But it's okay."

They stopped at the keg, Matt taking two red, plastic cups from the stack and holding one out towards Dylan. "Here."

"No thanks. I don't really drink."

"You sure?"

"Yep."

"Okay." He returned the cup to the stack and filled his own.

"Matty Saracen!" Tim Riggins slurred, tossing an arm over Matt's shoulders.

"Riggins," Matt acknowledged, successfully shrugging off his teammate's arm.

Tim peered around Matt at Dylan. "That," he said, gesturing with his cup and sloshing beer all over his hand, "is not your girlfriend."

"He's just keeping me company while Landry...talks to somebody," Dylan explained.

"Like a _girl_, somebody?" Tim scanned the crowd, eyes finding Landry and Tyra without much effort. He laughed aloud. "If Landry's got a chance with any girl here, it would definitely be Tyra. She doesn't discriminate." He smirked and took a swig from his cup.

"You're a dick." Dylan slowly started walking away, desperately searching the groups of unfamiliar faces for one could recognize, but most of the people in attendance didn't seem like they wanted much to do with her. Finally, though, she saw a couple of the cheerleaders from the JV squad. "I'll see you later, Matt," she said.

**oxo**

Dylan spent an hour or so getting to know the JV cheerleaders, Jenni and Megan, before they left and she was on her own. Matt was over with his teammates but Landry was nowhere to be seen. She pulled her cell phone out of her pocket and sent him a text. _where r u?_

The reply came back, _In my car_

Dylan made her way across the clearing for the hill that Landry had parked on. She unintentionally locked gazes with Tim as she passed by him and Matt and the other guys from the team and picked up her pace just that much more.

"Hey," Tim called after her. "Hey!"

But Dylan just kept walking, ignoring Tim and the stares she was getting from other students in earshot.

Tim caught up with Dylan just beyond the reach of the large bonfire's flickering light. "Hey," he said again, sidling up beside her. "Look, I'm sorry about what I said earlier. It...it wasn't..._nice_."

Dylan stopped. "I'm not sure if I'm the one you should be apologizing to."

"Whatever I did, I'm sorry."

"I'm sure you are. Doesn't quite change the fact that I still think you're an ass."

Tim held up his hands. "Fine. Then...I guess-I guess I'll just go." He dug his keys out of his pocket and headed into the haphazardly parked vehicles.

"You're drunk," Dylan called after him. "You can't drive." She heard Tim's snort from where she stood.

"Done it a thousand times."

Dylan stalked up to him and snatched the keys from his hand. "Doesn't mean you should."

"What's it to you if I do? You think I'm a dick. _And_ an ass."

"Doesn't mean I'm gonna let you get behind the wheel of a vehicle _drunk_." She spotted Landry's car at the top of the hill. "I'll be right back. Don't go anywhere."

Tim smirked at her. "Didn't plan on it."

Dylan jogged up the hill and stopped beside Landry's door. "Hey. You all right?"

"Yeah. Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" he asked.

Dylan shrugged. "I don't know. You're sitting up here all by yourself, so I figured...I don't know what I figured. So everything with Tyra?"

"It was...fine. We...talked."

"Talking's good."

"What about you and Riggins?" He jutted his chin out slightly towards the bottom of the hill.

"He's drunk. Like, beyond I'm-indestructible drunk to I'll-apologize-for-anything-you-want-me-to drunk."

"Tim Riggins, drunk? That's nothing new. That's pretty much standard Riggins behavior."

Dylan nodded slowly. "Well, I'm not gonna let him drive like that, even if he is a conceited jerk."

Landry smiled an awkward half-smile. "Look at you being all good-samaritan for Tim Riggins."

"Yeah. I think I'm missing that patch on my Girl Scout sash."

Landry laughed at that. "I bet you are."

"Hey. Thanks for bringing me out, even though it's not quite your scene. Maybe we could hang out tomorrow?"

"Actually...I might be doing something with Tyra."

Dylan grinned. "See! Me and Matt were right. Well. I guess I'll see you Monday?"

"So you're taking Riggins home? I don't think I've ever seen anyone but him and his brother drive that truck."

She held up Tim's keys. "He's not gonna get too far without these."

"Okay, then. Guess I'll see you Monday."

"Goodnight, Landry." She retreated back down the hill, stopping at Tim's side where he was leaned up against somebody's old Cavalier. "So where's your truck?"

"You taking me back to your place?"

"Only if you if you want to come face-to-barrel with a shotgun." She laughed at the expression on Tim's face. "My dad's a little...overbearing would be an understatement. Where's your truck?"

Tim pushed off the car and gently took Dylan's hand. "This way."

She pulled her hand away from his. "Tim, this- it doesn't mean anything. I'm just. I'm not gonna let you do something stupid. Even if everybody else here would."

Tim held his hands up again, placatingly. "O-okay. Sorry. Guess I'm just not-not really used to people doing things for me. Ever. At least not when it comes to my...safety."

"Maybe if you used better judgment."

"Guess I deserved that." He started weaving through the cars again. "This is me," he said, pulling open the passenger's side door.

Dylan rounded the truck to the driver's side and opened the door. "Which key?" she asked, holding them up in the light from the interior.

Tim took the keys from her, selected the right one, and handed them back.

A couple of girls walked by, staring and whispering, as she climbed into the cab. "Thanks," she said, wondering what the hell she'd gotten herself into.


	4. Chapter 4

**Title**: When Everything Falls Apart [4/?]  
**Author**: alakewood  
**Warnings**: General spoilers for Season 1. AU.  
**Rating**: PG-13  
**Word** **Count**: 1200  
**Summary**: No matter how cocky Tim Riggins was, Dylan wasn't about to let him drive drunk. But, just like Murphy's Law states, whatever can go wrong, will. But it still, somehow, ends up right.  
**Disclaimer**: As always, I own nothing.

**oxoxo**

Tim's truck rumbled and roared to life, the breaks shrieking in protest as Dylan backed out of the narrow space between a Dynasty and a Camry. The radio crackled softly then, after hitting a couple of bumps, music started filter through partially blown speakers. Tim reached over and turned it up, Dylan instantly recognizing Johnny Cash. "It's been a while since I've been a passenger in this truck," Tim said.

Dylan glanced over at him. He had his arms crossed over his chest and was leaning half against the door and half against the seat, his eyes focused on her. "It's been a while since I've driven a vehicle," she replied.

Tim's gaze dropped to her mouth as she spoke and she averted her eyes from the heat of his gaze. "Why's that?" he asked.

"Like I said: my dad's a bit overbearing."

"He doesn't let you drive?" He sat up a little straighter as though the idea were some kind of injustice. "It's like a basic freedom. He seems like he's awfully controlling."

"You know exactly one thing about him, so you're not quite qualified to say what my dad _seems_ like." She paused. "He's just...overprotective."

"And why's _that?_"

"And why do you _care?_"

"Maybe I just want to get to know you."

Dylan scoffed. "You want to get to know me or you want to get to _know_ me?" She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye.

"Are you always so...bitchy?"

It was about that time when the engine started sputtering, the truck chugging along only long enough for Dylan to pull over onto the shoulder of the gravel road. "Are you serious?" Her gaze was immediately drawn to the gas gauge on the dash where the needle was buried below the E. "When's the last time you put gas in your truck?"

Tim shrugged. "A week or so, maybe? The gauge is broken so I don't really-"

Dylan threw open the door and slammed it shut, then began walking down the road back towards the party. She couldn't remember if they'd passed any houses, but it was getting really late and she didn't think it was too smart to randomly show up on somebody's doorstep, this far out in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of the night.

"Hey!" Tim was scrambling out of the truck after her, still slightly weaving on his feet. "Where are you going?"

She pulled out her cell, angrily shoving it back into her pocket when she saw 'Roaming' on the screen. "Back to the party so I can find Landry so he can take me home."

"Look, I'm sorry," Tim said, taking hold of her wrist. "I am. It's just...I don't know what I did to you that makes you..." He sighed, letting go of her arm. "I don't know why I make you so...sarcastic and angry. I just wanted to get to know you."

Dylan didn't move for a long moment before finally turning to face Tim. "I just knew a lot of guys like you. Popular, good-looking, cocky as hell. Football stud. You think you can have whoever you want and do whatever you want and that there won't be any repercussions." She shook her head, rubbing her hands up her bare arms.

"I'm definitely not denying the good-looking part," he said, unconsciously reaching out to push her hair out of her eyes. "And, yeah, I've gotten away with a lot of shit 'cause I'm on the team."

"But are you ever held responsible for the consequences of what you do?" She wrapped her arms around herself.

Tim shrugged and took her by the wrist again. "I've got a sweatshirt in the truck. Come on."

"Are you avoiding the question?" But she followed him anyway.

"Maybe, yeah. Look, I just don't think about it, okay? Growing up, my life pretty much sucked, so if things are a little bit easier now or whatever...? I just don't think about it."

"You guys never do."

"_You guys?_" Tim asked, pulling a gray, Dillon Panthers hooded sweatshirt from the duffel bag on the floor in front of the passenger's seat. "Me and who else?"

"Just...guys like you."

"So, what? You have a bad break up or something?"

Dylan took the sweatshirt he offered, pulling it over her head, freeing her hair from inside the sweatshirt and sweeping it over her shoulder. "Something."

Tim, increasingly steady on his feet, took Dylan's elbow and started leading her back down the road. "Keeler's Cattle Ranch isn't that far from here."

They'd been walking quietly for a couple of minutes before Dylan broke the silence. "I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"For being a bitch."

"Hey." Tim's voice was soft as he stopped, reaching for Dylan's hand to stop her too. "I was being a dick. And an ass. I guess I had it coming to me."

The clouds scudded across the sky revealing a full moon and, in it's light, the smile that curved Tim's lips. "You've been nothing but nice to me."

"I did kind of stalk you, though."

"That doesn't excuse-"

Tim cut her off, his mouth colliding with hers, one hand loosely holding her wrist while the other cupped her jaw before sliding behind her neck where his fingers tangled in her hair. He wasn't aggressive, didn't force her into the kiss. Simply held her there and allowed her to make the next move. Dylan kissed back. For the briefest of moments before she pulled away, ducking her head against his shoulder. "I'm sorry," she whispered.

Tim wrapped his arms around her and held her close, pressing his cheek against her hair. "It's okay."

"It's just-"

"You don't have to explain anything to me." He let her go and took her hand. "It's not much..." But he trailed off as headlights lit up the trees around the bend. He pulled Dylan into the grass along the edge of the gravel road, out of the path of the car.

The car slowed as it passed them, then stopped. "Landry." She gave Tim's hand a tug as she started towards the vehicle.

Landry rolled down his window and craned his head out it to look at her. "Hey. What happened? Tim's truck run out of gas?" he asked, wearing a dopey, sarcastic grin.

Dylan shared a glance with Tim. "Yeah. Actually, it did. Can we get a ride back into town?"

Landry looked from Dylan to Tim and back to Dylan. "Yeah. Of course. Get in."

"Thanks." She and Tim slid into the backseat, Matt glancing at her with raised eyebrows.

"Saracen," Tim greeted, leaning back against the seat.

"Riggins." Matt looked at Landry, then Landry put the car back into gear and headed back towards town.

In the darkness of the backseat, Tim slid his hand across the vinyl, curling his fingers around Dylan's when their hands met. She didn't pull away.


End file.
